Scientists who study arthropods throughout the world make
use of scientific names. The scientific name consists of two words, the genus
name and the species name and is referred to as a binomial. This system for
naming species is known as binomial nomenclature. Special rules apply
to scientific names. These names are always written in italics or underlined.
The author's name comes after the binomial and is not italicized. The author
was or is the first person to describe the species. The scientific name of the
housefly is written as Musca domestica Linn. The famous scientist Carolus
Linnaeus was the first person to describe this species.